TIME: How M&M’s Became the Latest Flash Point in the Culture Wars
M&M’s says it is abandoning its colorful candy mascots because they are too “polarizing” for Americans to handle these days.
The ubiquitous chocolate characters—which have been the face of M&M’s for years—didn’t say anything controversial. But they became the focus of a partisan backlash after the brand, owned by Mars Inc., made a number of stylistic tweaks to its cast of “spokescandies” last year to be more inclusive. Right-wing commentators began criticizing the campaign, with Fox News host Tucker Carlson devoting time during multiple segments to decry the popular candy as “Woke M&M’s.”
Now the brand is moving in a new direction, the company said in an announcement posted on social media. The “spokescandies” are on “an indefinite pause” and actress Maya Rudolph will become the new face of M&M’s—someone the brand said “America can agree on.”
But the decision to put a temporary pause on the iconic mascots drew its own share of criticism from fans and branding experts alike. Some also questioned whether it had all been an elaborate stunt to capitalize on a low-stakes internet controversy.
“What M&M’s is showing is that it’s going to back down from what it stands for if it receives a lot of negative criticism. It’s becoming increasingly important to people that they know what brands stand for when they throw down their support.”
The M&M’s controversy could serve as a lesson for other brands.
“There’s an old saying—if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” says Steven Fink, a crisis consultant and author of Crisis Communications: The Definitive Guide to Managing the Message. “I suggest they make it a permanent pause. They should go back to doing whatever they were doing before because nobody was paying any attention to it until they started this nonsense—unless the new characters had increased their sales.”
Here’s how we got here.
‘Even A Candy’s Shoes Can Be Polarizing’
As it turns out, not everyone can agree on what kind of shoes an M&M cartoon character should wear.
In January 2022, the brand replaced the green M&M’s knee-high boots with flats and swapped the brown M&M’s stilettos for lower heels. It also announced that the orange M&M would embrace his anxiety; he would even start tying his shoelaces—moves many celebrated as more progressive.